Fred Yates grave (16th January 1884 to 11th November 1932)

Someone told me that when they'd found this grave there were a few chess pieces on it. I found it overgrown and it was obvious no visitors had pushed down bushes to reach it. It’s the family grave of the Yates family and the name at the bottom relates to Fred who won the British Chess Championship on six occasions.

He started a career in accountancy but aged 25 he abandoned it in favour of becoming a professional chess player and journalist. Four years later he won and then again the year after. These were through the World War One years so perhaps competition was limited. He proved his worth by winning the competition in 1921, 1926, 1928 and 1931.

He never earned much money playing chess and writing about it as a journalist. If he did he wouldn’t have got to enjoy it as he died in his forties. He was playing at an exhibition in Wood Green in London and returned to his room in Bloomsbury. The next morning there was no answer to knocks on the door. A smell of gas was noticed, the door was broken open and Fred was found dead in bed. An inquest showed the gas-taps in the room were securely turned off but there a fitting attached to the meter had been dislodged and let out gas. An Accidental Death verdict was recorded and Fred was returned north to be buried.

I had to push passed tangled bushes to see his name at the foot of the headstone. There were no chess pieces on it. The country seems to have forgotten about this champion. As I took some photos a man with a dog stopped and asked if it was a family member. I told him about Fred Yates and he was interested enough to write the name on the palm of his hand to look up when he returned home. I'm too thick to play chess and can barely manage draughts but I know this man must have possessed a certain top-class brain. I did a salute and left.